Most people have learned something about cholesterol, and many of us have been to the doctor for a blood test to learn our cholesterol "number." Now, however, it turns out that there's more than one kind of cholesterol, too. Almost every day there are newspaper reports of new studies or recommendations about what to eat or what not to eat: Lard is bad, olive oil is good, margarine is better for you than butter-- then again, maybe it's not. Once upon a time, we didn't know anything about fat except that it made foods tastier. We cooked our food in lard or shortening. We spread butter on our breakfast toast and plopped sour cream on our baked potatoes. Farmers bred their animals to produce milk with high butterfat content and meat "marbled" with fat because that was what most people wanted to eat.
Doctors recommend that total blood cholesterol be kept below 200mg/dl. The average level in adults in this country is 205 to 215mg/dl. Studies in the United States and other countries have consistently shown that total cholesterol levels above 200 to 220mg/dl are linked with an increased risk of coronary heart disease. LDL-cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol act differently in the body. A high level of LDL- in turn increases the risk of a heart attack. Thus, LDL-cholesterol has been dubbed "bad" cholesterol.
At first glance, it seems reasonable to think that eating less cholesterol would reduce a person's cholesterol level. In fact, eating less cholesterol has less effect on blood cholesterol levels than eating less saturated fat. However, some studies have found that eating cholesterol increases the risk of heart disease even if it doesn't increase blood cholesterol levels.whole-milk dairy products. Only foods of animal origin contain cholesterol.
In'08, scientists first observed that rabbits fed a diet of meat, whole milk, and eggs developed fatty deposits on the walls of their arteries that constricted the flow of blood. Narrowing of the arteries by these fatty deposits is called atherosclerosis. It is a slowly progressing disease that can begin early in life but not show symptoms for many years. In'13, scientists identified the substance responsible for the fatty deposits in the rabbits' arteries as cholesterol. In'16, Cornelius de Langen, a Dutch physician working in Java, Indonesia, noticed that native Indonesians had much lower rates of heart disease than Dutch colonists living on the island. He reported this finding to a medical journal, speculating that the Indonesians' healthy hearts were linked with their low levels of blood cholesterol.
Omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids have also been found in some studies to reduce both LDL- and HDL-cholesterol levels in the blood. Linoleic acid, an essential nutrient (one that the body cannot make for itself) and a component of corn, soybean and safflower oil, is an omega-6 fatty acid. At one time, many nutrition experts recommended increasing consumption of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats because of their cholesterol-lowering effects. Now, however, the advice is simply to reduce dietary intake of all types of fat. (Infants and young children, however, should not restrict dietary fat.) - 32002
Doctors recommend that total blood cholesterol be kept below 200mg/dl. The average level in adults in this country is 205 to 215mg/dl. Studies in the United States and other countries have consistently shown that total cholesterol levels above 200 to 220mg/dl are linked with an increased risk of coronary heart disease. LDL-cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol act differently in the body. A high level of LDL- in turn increases the risk of a heart attack. Thus, LDL-cholesterol has been dubbed "bad" cholesterol.
At first glance, it seems reasonable to think that eating less cholesterol would reduce a person's cholesterol level. In fact, eating less cholesterol has less effect on blood cholesterol levels than eating less saturated fat. However, some studies have found that eating cholesterol increases the risk of heart disease even if it doesn't increase blood cholesterol levels.whole-milk dairy products. Only foods of animal origin contain cholesterol.
In'08, scientists first observed that rabbits fed a diet of meat, whole milk, and eggs developed fatty deposits on the walls of their arteries that constricted the flow of blood. Narrowing of the arteries by these fatty deposits is called atherosclerosis. It is a slowly progressing disease that can begin early in life but not show symptoms for many years. In'13, scientists identified the substance responsible for the fatty deposits in the rabbits' arteries as cholesterol. In'16, Cornelius de Langen, a Dutch physician working in Java, Indonesia, noticed that native Indonesians had much lower rates of heart disease than Dutch colonists living on the island. He reported this finding to a medical journal, speculating that the Indonesians' healthy hearts were linked with their low levels of blood cholesterol.
Omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids have also been found in some studies to reduce both LDL- and HDL-cholesterol levels in the blood. Linoleic acid, an essential nutrient (one that the body cannot make for itself) and a component of corn, soybean and safflower oil, is an omega-6 fatty acid. At one time, many nutrition experts recommended increasing consumption of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats because of their cholesterol-lowering effects. Now, however, the advice is simply to reduce dietary intake of all types of fat. (Infants and young children, however, should not restrict dietary fat.) - 32002
About the Author:
A Healthier You Quite a few years back, we didn't know anything about fat except that it made foods tastier. We cooked our food in lard or shortening. We spread butter on our morning toast and poured sour cream on our jacket potatoes. Farmers bred their herds to produce milk with high butterfat content and meat "marbled" with fat because that was what most people wanted to eat. A Healthier You
